Haiku Trail unveiled at Van Buren State Park

VAN BUREN — The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) unveiled a new Haiku Trail Monday at Van Buren State Park, highlighting the connection of nature and poetry. A haiku is a short poem that consists of three lines of text. This is the second haiku trail on state park property, with the first at Hueston Woods State Park. The new haiku trail features 20 poems along the Van Buren State Park's current Lakeshore Trail, a 0.5-mile path with views of Van Buren Lake. Benches are situated along the trail so hikers can reflect upon the featured poems and find inspiration from nature. The 20 haikus that were selected were chosen from over 150 haikus written by those local to the park's area.Students were invited to walk the new Haiku Trail at Van Buren State Park. "This is a perfect combination of community passion and appreciating natural all wrapped up in one trail," said ODNR Director Mary Mertz. "Writing and reading poetry is all about inspiration and that's what I want people to feel and appreciate when they walk through this trail. It's extra special that the community played an important role in writing these haikus." The Haiku Trail was constructed thanks to donations garnered by the Ohio State Parks Foundation from the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation and Marathon Petroleum Corp.